Moonshot AI and DeepSeek reportedly used OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra outputs to build new models

Two of China's top AI labs shipped upgraded open-weight models this month, and both reportedly leaned on outputs from OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra Two of China’s most closely watched AI labs released new models in October. Both reportedly had help from an unlikely tutor: OpenAI. Moonshot AI and DeepSeek are said to have used outputs from OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra to develop the models they shipped this month. That puts a familiar question back on the table. When a lab learns from a rival’s answers, is that clever engineering or something closer to copying homework? What the two labs actually released DeepSeek went first. It launched DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 on October 17, 2026. The update focuses on sharper task performance and better agentic coding. Agentic coding means the model doesn’t just suggest code. It plans and carries out multi-step programming work with less hand-holding. DeepSeek kept its signature approach intact. The model stays open-weight and low-cost, which is the formula that made the lab famous in the first place. Moonshot followed on October 23, 2026, with Kimi K3.1 Pro. It’s a substantial upgrade over a predecessor that came out only a few months earlier. The model packs ap...